HAMILTON -- One of Tim Bosma's accused killers said Tuesday his co-accused paid him a few hundred dollars and some marijuana for helping steal the Hamilton man's truck.
Mark Smich told court Dellen Millard gave him about $200 and about two ounces of weed for his part in the theft that left Bosma dead and his body burned in an animal incinerator known as "The Eliminator."
Under cross-examination from Millard's lawyer, Nadir Sachak, Smich said the plan to steal a Dodge Ram truck had been in the works for about a year.
"Why don't you tell the truth? You messed up Dell's (Millard) plan to steal a Dodge 3500 when you put a bullet in Mr. Bosma's head?" Sachak said.
"That's absolutely untrue," said Smich, who has testified it was Millard who shot and killed Bosma during a test drive of a truck Bosma was trying to sell.
Smich said he and his girlfriend "smoked a bunch of the weed" Millard gave him after Bosma died and that he sold the rest to get money for a lawyer.
Sachak suggested the payment was actually going to be one of Millard's numerous cars, a Cadillac, but that never happened because Smich "screwed up" the theft of the truck and killed Bosma.
Smich denied that accusation.
Smich and Millard have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Bosma, who vanished on May 6, 2013, after taking two strangers for a test drive in his truck.
Court also heard Smich's violent rap lyrics about guns, killings and running from police that investigators found on his iPad after his arrest on May 22, 2013.
Smich said the lyrics had nothing to do with Bosma's death and he defended his profanity-laced creations, saying they were art and didn't reflect reality.
"I'm a freestyle lesson with no question," a shirtless Smich rapped in one video shown in court. "I'm killing you in possessions, it's mine."
"That means I'll kill you and take your things?" Sachak asked Smich after the video played.
"I would rhyme about these things like a Cadillac, but I never had a Cadillac, never had a gun, never owned a gun," Smich said, adding that he writes about money, but he's broke, and he doesn't have a driver's licence.
Sachak showed court a police report of the lyrics that said one of the files was modified the day before Smich's arrest.
Smich said he couldn't remember what was changed, if anything, and "it could even be a space ... an exclamation point ... it could be anything."
Sachak read some of Smich's lyrics, which were filled with expletives and slang, in court: "I'm runnin' away from the police in a cash race."
Sachak also tried to pin down Smich on when he wrote those lyrics, when he made a mistake on the time period.
"Could be one of those brain cramps again, sir. You're under a lot of stress," Smich said to Sachak.
Earlier, Sachak asked Smich if he was the one who shot Bosma and wrote about it afterward.
"When you pulled the trigger, did you say, 'you're deceased kid?"' Sachak asked, referencing some of Smich's rap lyrics.
"I was not there," Smich said.
Smich said he was a prolific rap writer and often wrote with Millard. He said Millard had dreams of building a studio for Smich to record songs for his rap career, which never got off the ground.
The studio was never built, Smich said.
Last week, Smich told court Millard fatally shot Bosma and burned his body in an incinerator, which he had nothing to do with except for helping clean up afterwards. He also said he buried the gun he claims Millard used to kill the Hamilton father, but doesn't remember where, just that it's in a forest somewhere in Oakville, Ont.
On Tuesday, Smich blamed his former girlfriend and friend for giving him the idea to bury the gun. He told court he had tried, unsuccessfully, to sell the weapon.
"When you look at the chain of events, the gun is buried somewhere, we don't know where, but they're at fault because, had they not made the suggestion, the jury may be looking at the gun right now?" Sachak asked.
"That is correct," Smich said. "I was foolish at the time."
The gun has never been found.
Sachak is expected to finish his cross-examination on Wednesday.
